Stars
by theangelshavemymind
Summary: Rose lied to the Doctor at Bad Wolf bay. She was pregnant. She had a daughter, a daughter named Oswin. Oswin's identity. One-shot.


**Author's note: Rose's memories are done in italicized text, and all the separation bars are for time jumps.**

**Also, look at the note at the end of the story if you're interested in this...**

**And... this site, please list Oswin as a character for this show already. Seriously.**

* * *

"_There's five of us now. Mum, Dad, Mickey... and the baby."  
"You're not?"  
"No. It's mum."_

* * *

Rose Tyler rarely lied. She had lied about taking the cookies from the cookie jar as a child, and about the time she had gone to see that movie that her mum hadn't wanted her to see. But she had never lied about anything important… until now.

Rose sat on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It had been nearly three months since the conversation at Bad Wolf Bay. Three very long, very lonely, very miserable months. She missed the Doctor more than she had ever missed anything in the world. And to make matters worse, she was sure that the thought which had been nagging in the back of her mind, was now a fact.

* * *

"You're what?"

Jackie's voice was a shrill as a bird's. Her blue eyes widened as she tried to understand what Rose was telling her.

"I'm pregnant," Rose said again, eyes downcast, staring at the trainers on her feet.

Jackie sighed and mused, "Well you better tell Mickey."

"It's not Mickey's."

Jackie was silent for a moment and then she said in a hiss, "He knocked you up. I knew he was no good." She began to yell, "And you're suddenly trapped here without him! Oh what a surprise that is. I tell you that Doctor is a right piece of work."

Jackie stopped as she noticed Rose's shoulders shaking. Rose looked up at her, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You don't have to make it any worse, mum."

Jackie scooped Rose into a hug and murmured against her hair, "It's gonna be alright, love. It's his fault, not yours."

Rose pushed away from Jackie. "His fault? Mum, I loved him."

"You what?"

"I loved him."

* * *

_Rose gripped the side of the sink as another wave of nausea washed over her. She choked on what tasted like bile and spat into the sink. _

_What was wrong with her? She had had morning sickness for the past three days. And any sort of sickness wasn't good, not in the life she lived. She couldn't keep the Doctor cooped up inside the TARDIS taking care of her while she hurled the contents of her stomach into a bowl. _

_"Rose?" _

_The Doctor's soft voice came from the bedroom next to the bathroom. Rose quickly washed her sick down the sink and grabbed a toothbrush. She started to brush her teeth, staring intently at the sink as the Doctor came in the bathroom._

_He was dressed in a ratty t-shirt that read "Gallifrey High" in big blue letters. His hair was slightly rumpled and he stretched lazily, coming to stand behind Rose._

_Rose spat the toothpaste into the sink and said, "Mornin, Doctor." She gave him a tired smile._

_The Doctor grinned and said, "Good morning, Rose Tyler."_

_He wrapped his arms around her middle, fingers tracing circles over her stomach, and making her feel slightly better. He kissed the back of her neck tenderly and moved his mouth close to her ear, whispering softly._

_"You look absolutely lovely this morning."_

_Rose smiled and moved so that she could capture his lips with her own. They stood there for a few moments, in each other's embrace, Rose's hands in the Doctor's wild hair, and his resting on her hips. Finally they broke apart when the need to breath was too much._

_The Doctor rested his forehead against Rose's and closed his eyes. Rose could see a happy smile on his lips. She thought about kissing the Doctor again, but she began to feel nauseous once more._

_Biting her lip she said quickly, "Doctor I hafta go to the bathroom."_

_"Do you?" the Doctor asked, voice low, his mind obviously on other things as he began to kiss her jaw._

_"No. I mean it. I really have to go."_

_Rose started to usher him out of the bathroom as her stomach gave a lurch. He reluctantly left and Rose returned to the sink, retching horribly._

_She emptied everything from her stomach into the sink and then slumped on the floor, exhausted. Why was this happening to her? Was this some sort of strange reaction to her being with the Doctor? Were Time Lords and humans never meant to be together? She hoped not, because she didn't know how she was going to stand being away from the Doctor. Her Doctor._

_She slowly got up and then she washed her face. Staring at her tired reflection, she prayed that she wasn't going through some sort of sickness... or something else. She put that thought out of her mind. That hadn't happened. It couldn't have. She must just be getting space sick or something._

_She sighed and blinked slowly. She was feeling better, just another bout of morning sickness, she guessed. She put her hair up in a loose ponytail and opened the bathroom door to see the Doctor lounging on his bed, a book in his hands, brainy specs perched on the edge of his nose._

_"Relieved yourself?" the Doctor said smiling._

_"Yeah," Rose replied._

_She ran over to the bed and jumped into it, snuggling into his side. He carded his fingers through her hair and continued reading for a bit, then he set his book down and lay down beside Rose._

_"Hullo," Rose said, staring into the Doctor's brown eyes._

_"Hello." The Doctor grinned widely and pulled Rose close to him in a bone crushing hug._

_He gave her a soft kiss on her temple and mused, "Are you up for another adventure?"_

_Rose nodded and said, "Sure. Just nowhere with slime. I swear that stuff is still in my hair."_

_The Doctor laughed and asked, "How do you feel about 2012?"_

* * *

Rose stared down at the bundle in her arms. This child, her child, the Doctor's child, their child. How had it come to this? How could she be here, in this strange hospital, holding the result of their love, without him?

Tears began to fall from her already red rimmed eyes. The child squirmed slightly and Rose pulled away the cloth covering the small face. She looked down at the little girl in her arms.

She was perfect, a small nose, big brown eyes, with a wisp of brown hair atop her tiny head. Her eyes were his, the Doctor's deep brown eyes that held the secrets of the universe, and when she smiled it was his cocky smile that could take on the world.

Rose had named her Oswin. It had to be something different, something special, like the little girl in her arms. She was Oswin Tyler, since the Doctor didn't have a last name that Rose knew of.

She clutched Oswin to her. What would her child think about her father, about how he was trapped on the other side of the void, about how he was gone? Would she be angry? Would she miss him as much as Rose did.

"There she is!" came a sudden cry and then Jackie ran into the hospital room. She crooned to the baby in Rose's arms, "Hello love, say hello to grandmum."

Oswin reached out a tiny hand and grabbed Jackie's outstretched finger, making Jackie cry out in joy.

Pete and Mickey entered, Mickey laden with a large fruit basket that had to have been Jackie's doing. He set it down on the table against the wall and peered down at Oswin.

"She looks like him," he said, watching the squirming infant.

"I know," Rose said quietly, biting her bottom lip and staring down at the small miracle in her arms. The miracle that her Doctor would never be able to see.

* * *

"You can't be serious."

Jackie stared with horror at Rose.

"I am," Rose replied sternly, "I have to. Don't you see? I can get back to him. I can find him and tell him about..." she trailed off and looked down at the child sleeping on her lap.

"So you'd leave everything for him. You'd leave me and dad, and Mickey and Oswin, just for him?"

Rose bit her lip and said, "I'm not leaving forever. It's just until I find him."

"And then what? You'll just come back here? I don't think so. You'll go off with him again."

Rose didn't reply. She got up and placed Oswin on the seat she had been on. She gave her daughter a kiss and shook her awake.

Oswin looked up at her mother with those big, brown eyes.

"Oswin, sweeheart," Rose said, brushing the hair out of Oswin's eyes, "I want you to stay with grandmum and granddad for a bit, okay?"

"Okay," Oswin said in her high four-year-old voice.

"You be a good girl."

"Yes."

"I love you."

Rose gave Oswin a hug, bringing her close and breathing in her smell, trying to remember it and savor it. Oswin smelled like the Doctor, like adventure, and Rose loved everything about her daughter. But Rose needed the Doctor more than ever, just like Oswin needed her father. And now they had a chance to get him back. And Rose was taking it, no matter what the consequences.

* * *

"It wasn't Jackie who was pregnant back on that beach, was it?"

Rose looks over at the man standing beside her. The Meta-crisis Doctor, as the real Doctor had called him.

Rose thinks back to the past few hours and what exactly happened. She had found the Doctor, her Doctor and they had saved the universe, again. Then he left her. Left before she could even say goodbye, or tell him about Oswin. But he had left her with this new Doctor, this human version of himself, all anger and revenge, all emotion, as the Doctor had described him.

The new Doctor wasn't Rose's Doctor. He was a copy, he just looked like him, he couldn't possibly love Rose the way the Doctor had, and so Rose couldn't, wouldn't love him.

And now he knew her secret.

It was pretty obvious when you put all the pieces together. The way that the child had run into Rose's arms, screaming happily. The tender kiss, Rose had given her. But more importantly, the hair and the eyes, the eyes. Those impossible deep eyes that could have only been the Doctor's. The same eyes, that were looking down at Oswin now, as the new Doctor surveyed her.

"It was you," the new Doctor said, looking at Oswin's smiling face, "You were the one who was pregnant."

Rose nodded solemnly, "Mum was nice enough to cover for me, even telling you at Bad Wolf bay that there was a little Tony Tyler waiting back home."

"But this isn't Jackie's child," the new Doctor said, bending down and turning Oswin to face him, "This is the child of a Time Lord. The child of the Doctor and Rose Tyler."

"Yes!" Rose screamed, tears streaming down her face, "Yes she's mine! Mine and the Doctor's." She gasped, "And now he's gone, gone forever. And he'll never know about her."

Her voice broke as she sobbed into her hands. Oswin looked up at her with fearful eyes and hugged her leg, starting to cry as well.

The new Doctor took Rose in his arms and held her through her sobs, saying, "He's gone, but I'm here."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rose said, pushing away from the new Doctor angrily.

He kept his hold on her, fingers grasping her arms, "I can be here for you and for Oswin."

"But you're not him!"

"Yes I am! Same body, same mind, only difference is that I'll grow old like you, with you." he put his forehead against hers, like the Doctor had done so many years ago. He whispered softly, his breath tickling her face, "Rose Tyler. Please let me grow old with you."

Rose looked up at him, into his eyes, the Doctor's eyes, and her heart broke. How could she say no?

She thrust herself at him, arms around his neck, lips locked in a passionate kiss, even more so than they had shared on the beach.

When they broke apart Rose looked up at him and smiled. He grinned back and then both of them looked down at Oswin, who was looking up at them with wide eyes, clearly wondering who this crazy haired man was that made her mother act so strange.

* * *

"Rose listen to me, I have to do this," the new Doctor said, taking Rose's hand in his.

"But why?" Rose asked, looking fearfully at Oswin, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's part Time Lord and she can't handle that. Not now anyway. He body isn't strong enough for her mind. But I can help her."

Rose looked over at Oswin. The little girl was curled up on the sofa whimpering to herself.

"You promise that you can help her?" Rose said, turning to the new Doctor.

"Yes. I can. Trust me."

Rose nodded and the new Doctor went to crouch in front Oswin. He whispered to the hurting child.

"Oswin, darling. Look at me." Oswin did. The new Doctor put his hands on the side of her face, fingers splayed about her temples. He closed his eyes and whispered, "Oswin I want you to let me help you. Just keep thinking about what's hurting and I'll make it go away."

Oswin closed her eyes as well and then her face screwed up in pain. Her tiny bottom lip quivered.

"Oh Oswin," the new Doctor said soothingly, "The entire universe is running through your head. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Oswin whimpered and the new Doctor said, "Ah ah ah. It's okay. It's alright." Oswin went silent. "There we go."

He opened his eyes and took his hands down from Oswin's face, which had gone slack. She had fallen asleep and she slumped forward into the new Doctor's shoulder. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

"Is she alright?" Rose asked, worriedly, looking with concern at the girl.

"She's fine. I just suppressed the Time Lord consciousness in her mind. It was too much for her, but she'll be able to handle it later on, when she gets older. But for now, I think it's better for her to just be human. She is more human than Time Lord after all," he put his thumb on the left side of Oswin's tiny chest, "Just one heart." He looked at Rose, "One heart, just like us."

Rose put her arms around his waist and the new Doctor broke the bad news to her, "Oswin won't remember anything that you told her about the Doctor. She can't.. And we can't keep referring to me as the new Doctor, or Meta-crisis Doctor, or whatever else you've called me for the past few weeks. I'll need a new name."

"What bout John?" Rose suggested.

"John. Nice and simple. I like it." he smiled down at Rose.

Oswin mumbled something and looped her arms around the neck of the man now called John. He placed a kiss on Oswin's forehead and spoke to the blonde hugging him.

"I think Oswin needs some rest, and you, Rose Tyler," he kissed her softly, "You need a break, and something hot. I'm thinking Chinese food. But maybe that's just a craving of mine, weird things you humans get, cravings. Got to deal with those now."

Rose grinned. "I think I can manage some Chinese food." She kissed him soundly and said suggestively, "But I'm expecting something good in return."

John's eyebrows raised, then he smiled and said, "I'm rather looking forward to this human life."

* * *

Rose ran into the room, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she said, "She's gone."

John looked up from his book, glasses falling a bit off his nose. "What?"

"She's gone. Oswin's gone."

John got up from the bed quickly. "Why? How?"

"I don't know. She just left this note."

Rose handed her husband a piece of paper. On it was wavy handwriting. John read it quickly.

_Mum-_

_I have to leave. I'm sorry. I just have to. It's way too boring here, and I want adventure. It's almost as though there's something nagging at the back of my mind, something telling me to go to the stars. So that's what I'm doing. _

_Don't worry about me. I'm old enough to take care of myself, and you know I'm smart. I can make my own way in the big bad world. I'll be fine. I've got connections with this base, they're launching a starship called the Alaska. I think I've got a pretty good chance of getting aboard. Can't you just see me in space? I'll be sure to send you a postcard._

_Give my love to daddy, and tell him that I took my red trainers, the ones he bought me for my birthday. I'll think of you guys when I wear them. _

_Bye! Love you!_

_-Oswin_

Rose looked at John. "Why would she leave?"

John pulled her close and said, "She's nineteen. She's not a child anymore. And that Time Lord part of her wasn't going to stay down forever. She needs to travel the universe, to chart her own course, just like the Doctor."

Rose sniffed. "I know. But she could have said goodbye."

"But would you have been able to let her go?"

Rose buried her face in his shirt and said, "I still can't let her go and she's already gone."

John held her through her sobs, reflecting on how much Oswin was like her father. The man who had broken Rose's heart by leaving. Who had left because he could never be with Rose. And now his daughter had left because she couldn't deal with the domestic life that she had known for nineteen years. She needed freedom, the freedom that came with traveling like the Doctor. A freedom that John could understand, the freedom that he needed Rose to understand as well.

* * *

Oswin sat inside the Alaska, eyes wide and full of wonder, ready for whatever adventure awaited her.

"You ready Oswald?" the boy next to her asked, using the surname that she now used instead of Tyler.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Oswin said cheerfully as the engines began to rumble.

She looked upwards, imagining the planets and stars that she would soon be among. Grinning to herself she closed her eyes as the ship began to takeoff, taking her to where she felt she truly belonged, away from the tiny blue planet that she used to call home and to the world that she had longed for.

She was going away to see the stars, and she was so ready.

* * *

**Okay, so this is just one of the three possibilities that I have for who Oswin is. If you want to see the other two possibilities, go to my profile. **

**Concerning this possibility: I think something defiantly happened on the TARDIS between Rose and 10. I can't say exactly what it was, but I can tell you that, in my opinion, they were probably a bit more than friends at one point in time, which is why the Doctor was so distraught at Rose's leaving, and why he gave her Meta-crisis so that she could be happy.**

**As to Oswin being their child, it's a long shot, and I doubt that it's true, but it's still interesting to think about...**

**Thanks for reading! Now go write a letter to Moffat, telling him to tell you and me how he plans to write Oswin out of her dalek problem. And then have some fishfingers and custard.**


End file.
